I just got back from working @ Dean's NYC fundraiser – ask me anything

[pruner]

to anyone who was there, I was the guy with long hair (tucked behind my ears) wearing a striped button down shirt checking handstamps & directing traffic.

I had a great time volunteering and had a really good view for most of the speeches/performances.

I thought Whoopi's speech was awesome. she tore a Bush a new asshole so large that you could probably drive a Mack truck through it.

Dean's speech was great too, as was Franken's. Janeane Garofolo did a nice job emceeing and looked great (her hair's still blond for anyone wondering).

there was so much press there, a lot more than I think the organizers had anticipated. I was interviewed by someone from Newsweek and a freelance reporter (forgot who he was was writing for).

everyone that I spoke to on Dean's staff was super-friendly.

oh, and since I was "working the door" I got to see the racial makeup of those attending. I think the final attendance count was about 800, and all in all, I'd say about 25% were minorities.

[FauxNewsBlues]

1. NYC question

Is there much talk/buzz yet about activism during the Chimp/Cheney convention next year?

[BurtWorm]

13. The Village Voice just did a preview of the counterconvention

complete with a gigantic list of organizations and Web sites planning to have a presence.

[madfloridian]

2. Pictures, I want pictures.

I am so jealous. That must have been so much fun.

[pruner]

3. it was amazing

I plan to volunteer again for the next NYC event.

there are pictures available at http://blogforamerica.com/ and I believe there will be video posted tomorrow.

[pruner]

4. another thing I forgot to mention

on my way out I stopped by the table where they were selling t-shirts and giving away stickers. a photographer from CNN came over and was asking about the t-shirts. he was told that because he's press he can have one for free (I could've gotten one for free too since I volunteered but I decided to pay the $20 anyway).

so the camera guy takes the shirt and while walking out the door with him I asked if other campaigns give stuff away to the press like that and his reply was "never before in all the years I've been covering politics."

[Cha]

6. That's way Cool!

[Cha]

5. Pruner, pruner, pruner! You did Good!

I'm hoping we all get to see it on Dean TV!

Maybe that "25% minorities" will start rising as time goes on!

I'll look for your quote in "Newsweek"! :D


How close did you get to Dean?!

[pruner]

9. how close did I get to Dean?

about 18 inches when he was being escorted inside by one of the other volunteers, a really nice guy that I spent a while talking to. he got to escort Dean purely by chance. his job was to check credentials at the press entrance and Dean happened to come in through that door. I don't think it'd been planned where he'd enter from, cause when I asked people from the campaign staff where he'd be coming innobody seemed to know.

[Demobrat]

7. Any idea how much money was raised?

?

[pruner]

15. gen admission was $35 balcony admission was $75 and VIP access was $500

the general admission tickets sold out very quickly.

based on the tally my volunteer partner & I were keeping, I'd say there were somewhere around 600 general admission tickets sold (which was capacity), 150 balcony admissions and 50 VIPs, although there may have been a lot more cause they didn't need to pass by me in order to get in.

[janx]

8. What, specifically, did Whoopster say? I'm dying to know this!

And I'm on dial-up, so I can't watch the online videos.

[pruner]

10. I don't really remember any specifics

but suffice to say, she wasn't wearing kid gloves.

[Cha]

14. LOL!

[janx]

16. I'm dying to know! Maybe there will be a transcript. She is

one funny lady!

[Cha]

12. You mean if you have "dail-up"... we can't watch online videos...

I didn't know that! Another reason I am glad to pay for my cable modem! :-)

[janx]

17. What I mean is that I don't have DSL or high-speed internet.

Everything I try to download gets all screwed up. It's time I remedied that.

I so much want to see and hear what the Ms. Whoopster said!

[MoonAndSun]

11. Hey pruner, was there any buzz going around about Clark

and his entry into the race? I'm interested in knowing how the Dean camp is handling all the media attention being paid to Calrk's entry into the race.

[pruner]

18. I don't think I heard Clark's name utterred a single time

so, in response to your question I'd have to say that there was no noticeable buzz.

[CMT]

19. did you hear how Dean's rally in Hudson, NY went

and how big the crowd was?

[pruner]

20. no… I didn't hear anything about it

I think there's a write-up on the blog tho.

[unfrigginreal]

22. Crowd was 750 CMT...

The presidential campaign has come to the Capital Region.

Former Vermont Governor and Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean was in Hudson on Saturday. Dean said the area could be the key to winning the state's primary.

More than 750 people gathered on Hudson's waterfront to support their pick for the next president. Dean drew repeated cheers with his attacks on President Bush.

He said, "Imagine a president who would cut 164,000 veterans of the United States armed forces off health care benefits to give Ken Lay tax cut. Don't tell me you're tough on defense Mr. President. How about respecting the veterans when they get home, not just when you send them to Iraq."

http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/headlines/?ArID=41134&SecID=33

[Cha]

25. This is so Dead On!

"He said, "Imagine a president who would cut 164,000 veterans of the United States armed forces off health care benefits to give Ken Lay tax cut. Don't tell me you're tough on defense Mr. President. How about respecting the veterans when they get home, not just when you send them to Iraq."

[janx]

21. So tell us some more...what was it like generally? Was it

loud, raucous, etc.? What did Dean talk about? Was he around when Whoopster took off the gloves? I'd love to have been there!

[pruner]

23. the place was rockin' when Phoebe Snow & Gloria Gaynor performed

Dean was in the house when Whoopi was on stage and he joined her up there for a little disco dancing.

Dean talked for about half an hour and covered pretty much everything. he received a tremendous amount of applause, as did all the performers/speakers.

[janx]

24. I wish I could have seen that. Oh God how I wish...

!
Thanks so much for your descriptions!

[Pastiche423]

26. Did you get to hear Phoebe sing?

No one has a voice likes hers and I am so proud she sang for Dean!